Karhold

The stronghold begins as an offshoot of House Stark itself: Karlon Stark builds it and gives it his name, Karl's Hold. Over the centuries the name wears down to Karhold, and his descendants take the surname Karstark as a mark of that origin.

When Robb Stark calls his bannermen to war, Lord Rickard Karstark answers and marches south with his men to join the host. Karhold is left in the hands of his uncle, Arnolf Karstark, who takes charge of the castle as castellan for the duration of the campaign.

In the cells of Riverrun, Lord Rickard Karstark kills the squires Willem Lannister and Tion Frey. When King Robb Stark learns of it, he tries him for treason and beheads him with his own hands, despite the ties of blood and war between them.

Harrion Karstark, Rickard's eldest son, then inherits the title of Lord of Karhold. Around the same time, Maester Aemon sends a raven from Castle Black asking for help to defend it against the wildling attack.

Stannis Baratheon sends ravens to the lords of the North asking them to declare for him. Of all the birds that fly out, the only one that comes back with an answer is the one that flies to Karhold.

The harvest at Karhold is thin that year: Lord Rickard took most of the men south, leaving only women, the old, the young and the crippled to work the fields, and the autumn rains finish off what the crops had left.

As castellan, Arnolf Karstark declares for Stannis Baratheon. He does it reckoning that, once word reaches the Iron Throne, they will order Harrion Karstark executed, still a prisoner at Maidenpool, which would leave his sister Alys as heir to the castle. Arnolf's plan is to marry her to his own son Cregan.

Alys Karstark flees to Castle Black to escape that marriage and reveals the plot to Jon Snow. There she marries Sigorn, the Magnar of Thenn, who gathers two hundred men and marches on Karhold while Lady Alys trusts its gates will open for her.